After returning home from a busy 12 day tour with Cirque Imaginings, writer/producer/clown friend Randy sent me this online review he found. It is only part of a much bigger newsletter, "The Clown Newsletter", put out by Toby Kid, from Iowa (the RED highlighted words refer to the acts I was involved with. -DonB!):
Item #2) Cirque Imaginings Show
On Tuesday 8/21, I [Toby Kid] took three of my four kids to a wonderful show. Here is what they thought of it.
Gertie age 6: My favorite part was when he rode the little bike and the little unicycle. My other favorite part was when the bad guy came out and made the fire. I really liked the part when they juggled, both balls and clubs.
Frodo age 13: I really like the part when the Clown got up on the really big unicycle. It was really cool when they juggled and they juggled together and took the balls from each other. I also liked the when the clown did the Diablo. The cowboy was really talented, when he used the ropes and jumped through them and stuff.
Smudgie age 8: My favorite part was when Emily asked about all the games and then uncle said everything about the playground being a playstation and when they juggled and took the ball away from each other and when the uncle climbed on the chairs and juggled the clubs it was awesome. I liked the part of the evil magic because I liked the sword trick and I liked the one where the uncle gets straps up the bad guy goes around and the uncle ends up closing the curtain and then he opens it and then he closes it up again and talks to Emily. I probably liked the silver stretch bag because I get to use the stretch bag on my clown character.
I also liked the part where he rides around on the big unicycle and the small unicycle and the small bike.
And another review from another audience member
Cirque Imaginings Review
By Vicky “Trixy” Garrett
It was 5:50, on the 21st of August, in D.M., IA, as I pulled into the parking lot of First Assembly of God Church. I wanted to get to “Cirque Imaginings” early to get a good seat. It was to start at 7:00. I needn’t have worried—the parking lot was pretty empty except for the bigger than life traveling bus for the entertainers, there to do their last on-the-road performance out of five.
I slipped into the sanctuary where some last-minute rehearsing was going on—that’s the kind of things we clowns love to see. Don Bursell (a former Ringling Bros. & Barnum & Baily circus clown and Disneyland performer from Mora, MN)and Ben Christensen (a college student in Minneapolis, MN who has been juggling since he was five—see his amazing resume and talent at http://www.bencomedy.com/) were rehearsing their dual –juggling scene. I could have watched that all night by itself! Those two are soooo talented! As I marched myself right down to the third row center, one of them (that would be me) yelled out, “Oh good you’re here—now we can start the show!” (They didn’t know me from beans.)
Randy Christensen, from Willmer, MN, who wrote and produced the show, was looking very comfortable and not at all like he was going to be putting on a show in an hour. (It was he, whom I mainly came to see, as I’ve been in one of his classes and knew what a talented, wonderful pastor and performer he was.) “Uh, oh,” he mused, “I don’t have my contacts.” Plans were then made for someone to go get them for him in his motel room. The local pastor then came in and advised me and now some other clown friends, that we needed to wait out in the commons area as they were ready to do a sound check.
But about 10-15 minutes later, here comes Randy Christensen out to greet us (what a nice man) and talk a bit about how the show came about. He said he’d met each of these other nine participants at various conferences around the states and when he decided on this year’s production, he drew on his notes and memory of people he’d met and pulled them all together, including fourth grader Emily Chermak, from Willmar, Minnesota, who was the lead in this year’s production about a girl visiting her grandfather (R. Christensen). After discovering there were no Nintendos, Wiis, or any other electronic equipment around, her grandfather showed her some books to read, but warned her not to read the dark and sinister book. She complied in the beginning, and all that she read came to life in the other characters who rode unicycles, walked around taller than houses (we were on stilts), and some who came in the form of bags with inside appendages stretching the bags here and there and dancing around. Darren & Heather Stevenson (mimes from Rochester, NY who also did much of the choreography for Cirque Imaginings) were great at miming and Don Bursell’s rodeo roping and skipping in and out of the large rope circle he was twirling was a treat to see! Ben Christianson turned his saxophone into a wonderful prop that furnished us with lovely music and magically fit right into the scene at the same time. At one point Randy’s character climbed chairs and piled them one on top of the other up to an extremely scary height where he finally posed on top of them.
Greg Phillips (an associate pastor in Melbourne, FL, a regular performer at Wacky World in Orlando, and has been on Comedy Central and opened for Robin Williams, Jerry Seinfeld and Gallagher) was mesmerizing with his black costumed magic when Emily dared open the black sinister book. Characters and creatures were coming out of no-where to add to the scene. The show ended with Grandfather talking with his granddaughter about heeding his paternal advice in the future regarding staying away from bad things and showed her the book that would always lead her in the right direction—God’s book. She then treated us to a lovely solo about the “good book.” It was a wonderful show put on for a ch urch full of children and some adults (a number of clowns incognito) sprinkled throughout who were all extremely glad they came!
To read the article in its original format, click HERE
It's nice to see someone saying nice things about the show, and also about the performance bits I do. In a world where compliments are few, I'm glad they appreciated my little part in making the show so memorable for them.
Have a great day. - DonB!
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